Allen Bradley PLC – Automation Group

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FoodSpicing Up Success: A Flavorful Transformation in Spice Production by Leveraging Rockwell Automation Solutions

December 13, 2023

Our client, a prominent supplier and producer of culinary spices, faced a critical need to transition their facility's receiving and washing areas from a manual control setup to an automated control system. The challenge was to improve throughput, reduce cleaning and processing times, and establish visibility within these areas for ongoing enhancement. With the existing manual approach, the company encountered bottlenecks affecting operational efficiency, preventing them from reaching their production potential. This shift to automation was crucial not only for optimizing their processes but also for streamlining the overall workflow and paving the way for future advancements in their operations.

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FoodRising to the Occasion with System Integration Expertise and Dedication

December 8, 2023

Challenges in complex projects are inevitable, but the dedication to overcome challenges is what sets exceptional system integration firms apart. This case study highlights how Automation Group, an E Tech Group company, stepped in when another company was unable to fully execute a project. The case study underscores how Automation Group’s exceptional capabilities not only remedied the situation but also earned the trust of the client to support three additional projects to-date. The client, a major food distributor, needed to integrate a conveyor system with their pocket filler, vacuum filler, and steamer. Delays in the system deployment resulted from understaffed control support, incomplete project aspects, and equipment transfers from another facility. Plus, new conveyors had been installed by a different controls integrator. The client sought Automation Group’s help to create a clear project outline and overcome the project challenges.

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FoodTomato Peeler System Upgrade: Cutting Downtime, Boosting Efficiency

November 22, 2023

A prominent food manufacturing company specializing in tomato processing faced a significant challenge with their existing peeler system. The controls hardware was outdated, causing a higher risk of downtime, limited maintenance support, and poor controls performance and control network communications. The company needed to resolve these challenges and sought the support of Automation Group, an E Tech Group company. The food manufacturer chose Automation Group for their proven track record and expertise in control systems, ensuring a swift and successful automation project.

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FoodWarehouse Power-up: Elevating Efficiency by Modernizing Conveyor System Controls

November 17, 2023

Challenges arise when hardware and software become outdated. This was the case for a leading food manufacturer who needed modernized controls for their warehouse conveyor system. The existing Allen-Bradley PLC-5 hardware was obsolete and lacked modern communication protocol. The conveyor system also lacked HMIs to monitor processes, identify problems, and visualize data. Because of this, the customer sought the help of Automation Group, an E Tech Group company, to upgrade their Allen-Bradley PLC-5 to the latest Rockwell Automation ControlLogix L81E processor, integrate AVEVA InTouch HMI stations, and connect devices over an EtherNet/IP communication network.

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FoodMajor SCADA and PLC Upgrade Increases Uptime and Lowers Maintenance Costs for Rice Milling Company

February 13, 2023

Complex upgrades require advanced expertise. Experienced system integrators will use a holistic approach to fully scope automation system upgrades and consider how the project’s complexities will impact the customer’s budget, uptime, timeline, or performance requirements. An example of this was a PLC-5 and SCADA application upgrade for a leading rice milling company. The company had an obsolete PLC-5 controlling their rice finishing line, in addition to an obsolete SCADA application controlling their entire facility. The legacy SCADA system was costly to keep operational, and the existing network caused communications issues between the customer’s production areas. The customer needed a new PLC program to be installed within a 48-hour timeframe to minimize production impacts, and the existing SCADA system needed to remain operational during the migration to Inductive Automation’s Ignition platform. Automation Group was engaged as the customer’s choice system integrator given their advanced expertise in system migration and the successful execution of projects at the customer’s other facilities.

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FoodAutomated Sterilization Process Increases Production Rates for Latin Food Products Supplier

January 13, 2023

A supplier of Latin food products was challenged to increase the efficiency of their canned goods sterilization process. Their goal was to move away from a manual sterilization process and move into the future with automation. The food products supplier engaged Automation Group to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and the flexibility of their operations given their in-depth experience in automating manual processes.

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FoodDesigning a Flexible and Scalable Automated Processing System for The Better Meat Co.

December 1, 2022

Many food processors create a proof of concept in several sizing stages before they build a full-scale processing facility. Designing an automated processing facility requires flexibility in the design and the ability to constantly improve the system with things discovered through research and development efforts. This is the story of how The Better Meat Co. partnered with Barnum Mechanical Inc. and Automation Group to design, build, and automate a full-scale processing system at The Better Meat Co.’s new mycoprotein fermentation facility in Sacramento, California. Industry partner Barnum Mechanical teamed up with Automation Group to support an expedited completion timeline.

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FoodPLC-5 to ControlLogix Migration Supports Greater Uptime for Global Spice Supplier

September 16, 2022

When is the best time to upgrade a decades-trusted PLC system? This was the challenge for a global supplier of spice ingredients. Their Allen Bradley PLC-5 system was commissioned over 25 years ago and, while it performed well for many years, the outdated platform began experiencing constraints. The obsolete equipment was limiting network connections. This urged the global spice supplier to seek a system integrator that could provide timely PLC migration support using the latest technology available. Automation Group was recruited to modernize their obsolete PLC system to a more IIOT friendly platform.

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FoodSix PLC-5 Migrations Over Holiday Weekend Supports Efficiency for Consumer-Packaged Goods Giant

September 9, 2022

From decreased productivity to system downtime, legacy equipment can pose many challenges to operational efficiency. This was the case for a leading consumer packaged goods company who was relying on PLC-5 hardware to control most of their facility. The plant recently experienced a major disruption during peak production because of a network switch failure, and it was later discovered that the disruption could have been minimized if the facility had been separated into multiple virtual local area networks (VLANs). To support the creation of VLANs, the customer’s existing PLC-5 control system would need to be upgraded to the ControlLogix system which could handle multiple independent Ethernet connections. Automation Group was called to support the project given their previous assistance with consolidating the company’s DH+ and ControlNet network communications in support of their industrial automation applications.

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BeveragesProcess Control Automation Accelerates Smoothie Product Line Launch

April 27, 2022

With breakfast considered to be the most important meal of the day, restaurants must offer a well-rounded breakfast menu to stay competitive. For a global fast-food giant, launching budget-friendly breakfast smoothies as a new product line was essential to compete against other café chains that offered similar products but at a higher price point. The fast-food giant enlisted a leading developer of fruit-based products to help deliver the new product offering but the project required the creation of several new manufacturing lines with a focus on process control. The fruit solutions developer engaged Automation Group for their reputable flexibility and process control expertise to complete the complex project within a tight timeline.

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FoodMigrating a Legacy PLC Program to a Modern Controls Platform

March 10, 2022

The era of the PLC5 has come to an end. The controller that once served companies well for many years is now obsolete, resulting in costly aftermarket replacement parts, limited capabilities, and downtime challenges. For one of the world’s largest mozzarella cheese producers, the key challenge with their legacy Allen Bradley PLC5 control system centered around its limited memory capacity and, consequently, the inability to handle new data collection and documentation requirements by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The cheese producer was further challenged to find a system integrator that had technical expertise with the obsolete architecture to leverage their existing automation investment and determine their migration options. Specialized in this matter, Automation Group was engaged to plan and manage the migration to the ControlLogix platform.

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FoodCSIA Methodology Streamlines Olive Oil Packaging Line Automation

December 14, 2021

Challenges in the packaging process can impact the ability to scale operations and can affect many aspects of a company’s product line such as quality, safety, product professionalism, and maintenance costs. Deploying automation solutions can help with these challenges and better streamline operations. When one of the top 4 olive oil companies in California recognized the costly operational challenges of their manual packaging process, automation was key to help them remain competitive.

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FoodCandy Manufacturer Conveyor System Modernization Increases Efficiency, Decreases Noise, and Minimizes Maintenance Costs

November 15, 2021

After producing some of the world’s most famous and flavorful confections for many years, a Northern California candy manufacturer’s aging conveyor system was becoming old, noisy, and obsolete. The existing conveyor system, which had sorted and moved large volumes of product for over a decade, was a line shaft design and was beginning to degrade. The factory was in desperate need of a conveyor system modernization which would increase efficiency, decrease noise and minimize maintenance costs.

FoodSpicing Up Success: A Flavorful Transformation in Spice Production by Leveraging Rockwell Automation Solutions

FoodRising to the Occasion with System Integration Expertise and Dedication

FoodTomato Peeler System Upgrade: Cutting Downtime, Boosting Efficiency

FoodWarehouse Power-up: Elevating Efficiency by Modernizing Conveyor System Controls

FoodMajor SCADA and PLC Upgrade Increases Uptime and Lowers Maintenance Costs for Rice Milling Company

FoodAutomated Sterilization Process Increases Production Rates for Latin Food Products Supplier

FoodDesigning a Flexible and Scalable Automated Processing System for The Better Meat Co.

FoodPLC-5 to ControlLogix Migration Supports Greater Uptime for Global Spice Supplier

FoodSix PLC-5 Migrations Over Holiday Weekend Supports Efficiency for Consumer-Packaged Goods Giant

BeveragesProcess Control Automation Accelerates Smoothie Product Line Launch

FoodMigrating a Legacy PLC Program to a Modern Controls Platform

FoodCSIA Methodology Streamlines Olive Oil Packaging Line Automation

FoodCandy Manufacturer Conveyor System Modernization Increases Efficiency, Decreases Noise, and Minimizes Maintenance Costs

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